Nate Edgar home to play Thirsty Moose with The Nth Power

Nate Edgar shares thoughts on love, music and the human spirit

Bassist Nate Edgar returns Saturday, Dec. 14, for his first hometown gig in what seems like an eternity. He'll be coming through town with his latest group, the Nth Power, a soulfully charged, genre defying group that'll bring enough funk to get everyone in attendance bouncing around the Thirsty Moose Taphouse with glee.

Bassist Nate Edgar returns Saturday, Dec. 14, for his first hometown gig in what seems like an eternity. He'll be coming through town with his latest group, the Nth Power, a soulfully charged, genre defying group that'll bring enough funk to get everyone in attendance bouncing around the Thirsty Moose Taphouse with glee.

Of those bouncing, Edgar will certainly be included. The low end master spent some time with Spotlight to discuss what he's been up to, and what excites him most about returning home to hang and play for his closest family and friends.

SPOTLIGHT: Tell me a bit about the band. What was the goal at the outset of getting this group together?

EDGAR: The Nth Power is a group of musicians that also happen to be great friends whom collectively want to produce music together. We are not trying to fit into a specific genre. We are group that wants to share music from our souls that will reach into people's spirits to show them some love! We want to move people in a positive way — lyrically, musically and otherwise — to a great place within themselves and within the world, one gig, EP, record, and single at a time.

"The band consists of Nikki Glaspie on drums (Beyonce for six years, and of Dumpstaphunk), Nick Caserino (Big Daddy Kane, Jennifer Hartswick Band) and Nigel Hall (Lettuce, The Warren Haynes Band).

"Nikki, Nigel and I first met soon after I moved to Boston in 2001. We played a lot together at Wally's Pub on its funk night. I have, and continue to learn a lot from these two wonderful people.

"The Nth Power started as a back-up band in New Orleans for a late-night gig during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Jennifer Hartswick from the Trey Anastasio Band needed a band to back up her and Nick Casserino. So she asked Nikki, Nigel, and I to do the gig. At our 2 a.m. soundcheck we started playing on this improvised groove (which became a song we recorded and play live called 'Jazz Fest 420'). After we ended the jam we were all just left staring at each other ... Jennifer, the 20 people who snuck into the club for our soundcheck and the promoter, we all had really big smiles on our faces and were like, 'Did you hear what I just heard?' and, 'Did you feel THAT?' We CRUSHED that late, late-night gig and at 6 a.m. after all was said and done, Nikki, Nigel, Nick and myself decided to return to NOLA a few months later to write and record. We spent a lot of time there over the last year, recording, playing a few gigs and writing.

"We connect as a band in a very organic way ... We all are Reaching for the same thing, which is to serve the music we write with passion and respect for life, music, and each other as musicians and people. We are not making music specifically for the dance floor or for seated concert. We're making music 'for the people, by the people' for enjoyment and fulfillment on different levels, hopefully."

SPOTLIGHT: You've been in the music biz for a long, long time. What keeps you going? What does music mean to you? Was there a moment or experience that locked you into chasing music as a full-time career?

EDGAR: I really love playing the bass. I love having something to work on and study that I can share with people in a positive way. Playing music is also a path of self-exploration. How do any of us stay inspired after many years doing the same thing? Whether it's a job, relationship or a sport ...; By trying to get deeper in it, by studying and pushing oneself deeper into the craft ...; that's how! I believe that the personal growth we as humans can strive for can be worked on through the playing of an instrument, or the pursuit of creating in any of the arts.

"The thing that really got me super interested music and the dream of doing it for a living all started with my middle school band general music teachers Andrew Price and Sheila Nudd at Hampton Academy Junior High. Andrew Price was a young guy who had just served as a bass player in the Air Force Band. Talk about luck! He gave me the fundamentals of music theory and electric bass technique. I still use the same ledger book he made for me in 1992. He also turned me on to the late bass great Jaco Pastorius at the age of 14! Shelia Nudd taught me, and all her students, about music from around the world; she had a great passion for humanity and teaching and shared it endlessly with her students. She also took us to so many concerts. She turned me onto the world of music.

"But the days with my college funk band Vitamin C is what got me HOOKED on playing bass. The endorphin and adrenaline releases of playing such fast and furious tunes with some great friends just solidified my dreams of playing music constantly. The experience of writing music together in an organic way, with people you love, is truly wonderful. And this is what we have in The Nth Power as well.

SPOTLIGHT:: What are you looking for a listener to take with them when they experience one of the records, or the live show?

EDGAR: We hope the listener walks away from the show feeling like they did the right thing in spending their hard earned money and using their valuable time coming to our show!

"We have put a lot love into this music and we hope the audience can feel that love. Music can be a great communicator of all forms of love. And we hope to share the love we feel for each other, humanity and the spirit on both our recordings and from the stage."

SPOTLIGHT: What excites you about heading back to Seacoast, New Hampshire, for a show at the Thirsty Moose?

EDGAR: Man, I'm so stoked to come back to the Seacoast with such a great group of musicians. I can't wait to see some familiar faces. I've been on the road for many years now, and no matter where I go, believe me, I think of the Seacoast constantly. I still miss my musical family in the area, even after almost 15 years. I look forward to saying hi to Bruce Pingree at The Press Room, stopping into the Water Monkey to see Rog and Carol, getting a Guy Scramble at the Friendly Toast, a quad shot latte at Caffe Kilim and of course sleeping at my folks' house in Hampton. Yeah, I'm pretty excited to come home.